Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Base 001, family dormitory area.

The night in Northwest China is so quiet that you can only hear the wind.

Su Zheng, who had just finished celebrating the victory of the "Xuanwu" steel project, did not go to rest. He sat at his desk, on which was a cup of freshly brewed tea leaves, and next to it was an express registered letter from Beijing.

Su Zheng recognized the crooked handwriting on the envelope at a glance.

It was Zhao Ming, the eldest apprentice he took on at the steel rolling mill.

"To my master."

Su Zheng smiled slightly and tore open the envelope.

The letter was thick, spanning five or six pages. Zhao Ming wasn't highly educated, but he wrote this letter in great detail, even including a few clumsy diagrams.

"Master, it's as if I'm seeing you in person."

"It's been a month since you left. Everything is fine at the factory. I've mastered the drill bit sharpening techniques you taught me. I came in second place in the last workshop assessment (the first place went to my second junior brother, who secretly practiced extra and has no sportsmanship)."

Su Zheng smiled and took a sip of tea.

"However, Master, this letter is mainly to report to you on the situation in the hospital."

"You were incredibly prescient before you left, saying that those 'beasts' would definitely cause trouble. Sure enough, less than half a month after you left, some of them started acting up."

Su Zheng's gaze gradually turned cold as he looked down at the second page of the letter.

It contains a detailed record of a farce that took place in a courtyard house.

……

Let's rewind to three days ago.

After Su Zheng left in a military vehicle, the courtyard was indeed quiet for a while.

The "Military Restricted Area" notice posted on the door, along with Director Wang's harsh words, did indeed intimidate many people. Even Jia Zhangshi would detour around Su Zheng's house, fearing she might be sucked in by the legendary "high-voltage electricity."

But as time went by, there was still no news from Su Zheng.

Rumors began to breed like rats in a sewer.

"Hey, have you heard? Su Zheng went to the Northwest."

"That place is tough, or maybe it's for some kind of secret mission. I've heard that nine out of ten people who go there never come back."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true! Look at so-and-so from before, they went there and sent back a box two years later..."

Sha Zhu squatted by the pool in the middle courtyard, washing his two greasy chef's uniforms while muttering to Qin Huairu beside him.

"Sister Qin, I think Su Zheng's chances are pretty much over."

Sha Zhu curled his lip, a hint of schadenfreude on his face. "Even if he doesn't die, he'll probably be stuck there for another ten or eight years. This courtyard house is still the domain of us old residents."

Qin Huairu rubbed her clothes, her eyes filled with complex emotions. She glanced towards the backyard and sighed, "Silly Zhu, don't talk nonsense. Su Zheng is a cadre now, a capable person."

"What kind of expert is he? All he can do is grind two iron balls, right?"

Sha Zhu scoffed, "Sister Qin, you're too honest. Look at his house, it's just sitting empty anyway. And those security bars on the windows—I glanced at them the other day, and wow, they're top-quality alloy steel!"

Although Sha Zhu didn't understand the technology, he had worked in the steel mill's canteen for so many years that he could still distinguish between good and bad iron.

To prevent theft, Su Zheng specially used high-strength alloy obtained through the system to make the window grilles. The metallic luster was dazzling in the sunlight.

"If we take that thing apart..." Sha Zhu's eyes gleamed with greed, "we could get at least a few dozen dollars at the scrap yard! Enough to pay for Bang Geng's tuition, and maybe even buy a few pounds of meat for your family."

Qin Huairu paused for a moment.

A few dozen yuan...

This is a huge sum of money for the Jia family, who are currently facing difficulties.

"Zhu Zi, don't do anything reckless." Qin Huairu was tempted, but still a little scared. "That's someone Director Wang personally protected."

"What are you afraid of?"

Sha Zhu slammed the washed clothes into the basin. "The emperor is far away! Su Zheng is dead out there, who cares about this dilapidated house? Besides, who am I doing this for? It's just because you're working so hard..."

The more Sha Zhu talked, the more he felt like a hero.

Alcohol emboldens the timid.

That evening, Sha Zhu drank two ounces of strong liquor and was then provoked by Jia Zhangshi's sarcastic remarks ("Sha Zhu, didn't you say you could help our family? I think you're all talk and no action"). In a moment of impulsiveness, he grabbed a pair of pliers and a crowbar and headed to the backyard.

The night was dark and the wind was high.

The courtyard of Su Zheng's house was quiet.

The red warning light was still flashing faintly, but in Sha Zhu's eyes, it was nothing more than a bluffing decoration.

"What high-voltage electricity? You're just trying to scare ghosts."

Sha Zhu let out a burp and staggered to the window.

He reached out and tentatively touched the window frame.

no power.

"Hey! I knew it!" Sha Zhu chuckled. "That bastard was really playing the 'empty city' trick! Does he think electricity is free? The people are all gone, how could there still be power?"

After confirming it was safe, Sha Zhu became even bolder.

He inserted the crowbar into the gap in the window frame and pulled it out with all his might.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound.

The security window designed by Su Zheng uses a special inverted latch structure. If forcibly removed, it will trigger the internal mechanical interlocking mechanism.

Suddenly, the fixed window frame popped open, and two dark iron clamps snapped shut like animal traps.

"ah!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered, shattered the tranquility of the courtyard.

Sha Zhu's right hand was gripped tightly by the iron clamp, causing him to kneel on the ground in pain, and the crowbar in his hand clattered to the ground.

But that's not the worst part.

The moment the mechanism was triggered, a high-decibel alarm installed under the eaves was switched on.

"Waaaaah—waaaah—"

The piercing alarm blared instantly, so loud that even the police station two streets away could hear it.

"Who? Who's there?!"

Almost simultaneously, the front gate was kicked open.

This time, it wasn't the security department that came, but an even more troublesome character—Director Wang from the neighborhood office.

Since Su Zheng left, Director Wang has treated this room as a "political task" for the neighborhood. She specially arranged for two militiamen to take turns staking out the alley entrance every night.

Upon hearing the alarm, Director Wang, along with four militiamen, carrying flashlights, rushed into the backyard like divine soldiers descending from the sky.

Several beams of strong flashlight shone directly onto Sha Zhu's face.

At this moment, Sha Zhu's hand was caught in the window, his pants were soaked with sweat from the pain and fright, and he looked like a toad that had been caught, extremely disheveled.

"Idiot Zhu?!"

Director Wang recognized the person and was so angry he trembled all over.

"Oh! It's you again! I emphasized discipline during the day, and you dare to defy it tonight?!"

"Director Wang...it's a misunderstanding...it's a misunderstanding..." Sha Zhu was sweating profusely from the pain, but he was still stubborn. "I...I just thought the window looked loose, so I came to help Consultant Su fix it..."

"Fix the window?"

Director Wang sneered, pointing to the crowbar and pliers on the ground, "Bringing a crowbar to fix a window in the middle of the night? Do you think I'm a three-year-old?!"

"Cuff him!"

Director Wang gave the order.

Two militiamen rushed forward, ignoring that Sha Zhu's hands were still trapped, and directly twisted his arms behind his back, snapping the silver bracelets onto his wrists.

At this moment, all the neighbors in the courtyard were also awakened by the alarm and rushed out to see what was going on.

Upon seeing Sha Zhu being arrested, Yi Zhonghai rushed over without even putting on his shoes properly.

"Director Wang! Please go easy on him!"

Yi Zhonghai also tried to use his "moral blackmail tactic," saying, "Zhuzi may be a bit confused, but he's not a bad person at heart! We're all neighbors. If he gets arrested, how will he face people in the future?"

"Yi Zhonghai, shut up!"

Director Wang showed no mercy this time, pointing his finger at Yi Zhonghai and yelling, "Comrade Su Zheng is building for the country on the front lines! His family and property are protected by the state! Sha Zhu's behavior, at best, is theft; at worst, it's sabotaging a military marriage... no, it's damaging military family facilities! It's a counter-revolutionary act!"

When this serious accusation was slapped on Yi Zhonghai, he turned pale with fright and shrank back, not daring to utter another word.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, who were hiding behind the crowd, were so frightened that they trembled and dared not even breathe.

"take away!"

Director Wang waved his hand dismissively, "Send the person to the police station first, and issue a notice to the entire subdistrict tomorrow! Also, notify the steel mill's security department; this isn't over!"

Sha Zhu was dragged away like a dead dog.

The people left behind in the courtyard stared at the window that still shone with red light, their eyes filled with deep awe.

Although Su Zheng was not present.

But the residual power is even more terrifying than when he was here.

……

Su Zheng put down the letter.

"hehe."

A cold laugh escaped his throat.

"A finger was severed? Fifteen days of detention? Factory-wide reprimand?"

Su Zheng shook his head, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "Zhao Ming, you're still too lenient. Or... that Director Wang still gave Yi Zhonghai some face and didn't completely destroy Sha Zhu."

If Su Zheng were present, Sha Zhu's hand would probably never be able to flip a wok again in his lifetime.

However, since the fire has already been started, we might as well add some more fuel.

"Shazhu is thick-skinned and forgets everything he's been taught a lesson."

Su Zheng stood up and walked to the drafting table. "Fifteen days of detention for him is just a change of sleeping place. If you want him to really learn his lesson, you have to take away his job and shatter his pride."

What is Sha Zhu most proud of?

Is he a successor of the Tan family cuisine? Is he the top chef at the steel mill? Is he the one with the irreplaceable wok?

"if……"

Su Zheng picked up a drawing pencil, a hint of malice called "science" flashing in his eyes.

"If an apprentice with only a first-level skill level can cook better dishes than Sha Zhu, and cut potato shreds finer than him, all while using a machine..."

"Then what kind of person is He Yuzhu?"

shhhhh--

The pencil moved swiftly across the drawing paper.

With the aid of the Eye of Truth, a blueprint full of mechanical beauty gradually took shape.

This is not an ordinary vegetable cutter.

This is a **"Multi-functional hydraulic transmission automated food processing terminal"** designed by Su Zheng, combining the principles of food processing machinery from later generations and utilizing discarded parts from Base 001.

The dual-axis linkage blade assembly allows for adjustment of slice thickness down to 0.1 mm.

A biomimetic robotic arm for stir-frying simulates the force curve of a chef flipping a wok.

There's even a simple temperature control system to ensure precise cooking.

"Zhao Ming".

Su spoke to the air, as if addressing his distant apprentice, "Master is sending you something good. This time, we won't fight; we'll use our skills to teach that foolish cook a lesson."

Su Zheng folded the completed drawings neatly and stuffed them into an envelope.

He picked up his pen again and added a sentence at the end of the letter:

"Make it according to the diagram and install it in the cafeteria's number one stove. Give Sha Zhu a surprise when he comes out."

After doing all this, Su Zheng walked to the window and looked at the desolate moonlight over the vast Northwest.

The moon here is rounder and brighter than the one in Beijing.

"The gossip from the courtyard house is all gone."

Su Zheng stretched, his gaze sharpening again. "Now, it's time to get down to business."

"Xinyi said depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds are promising... Well, before that, we need to get the rotor of that centrifuge out first."

"After all, only when we grow mushrooms can we truly stand tall when we speak."

……